94. PHILON, SAINT

In the Karpas peninsula at
the ancient / late antique coastal city of
Carpasia, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north of Rizokarpaso (Famagusta district). Carpasia was an episcopal see since
the 5th century, presumably transferred to Rizokarpaso following the abandonment of the ancient
site after the 7th century [Papacostas (1995) Gazetteer 4].

Description: The now ruinous
domed pier
cross-in-square structure with three polygonal apses was built in
good ashlar masonry over the nave and the
south aisle of a 5th-century (probably episcopal) basilica which was
abandoned after the 7th century (numismatic and ceramic evidence). The missing dome perhaps resembled that of the
contemporary (?) church at Trikomo, of similar size and masonry with twelve
windows under recessed arches. The
articulation of the façades is unusually elaborate, with recessed blind
arches marking the cross arm gables and compartments, and recessed
niches over the string course flanking the apse windows [Papacostas (1995) 27-28 and Gazetteer
4.d; Papageorgiou
(1966a) 224; MKE 13,
252-53].

Dating: An 11th / early 12th century date [Megaw (1974) 64: 12th century; Papageorgiou (1982a) 470: 11th century] is
suggested by the unique façade
articulation which is related to examples in Asia Minor. The
combination of polygonal apses is found only at the (contemporaneous?) church of Saint Lazarus. The façades
with their large blind arches are reminiscent of those at the Archangel Gialousa, the Archangel at Phrenaros, Saint George of
Chortakia and Saint Synesios.
The flat recessed niches of the apse walls are identical to those of the
extension at the Archangel of Gialousa, the façades of the church at Fisandon in Lykaonia
(10th century?), the church of Saint
Gregory of Nazianzus at Gelvere, and Karagedik kilise in Cappadocia (10th
century?), and the apses of the church
of Saint John at Lindos on Rhodes (late 11th / early 12th century) [see Papacostas (1999a) 179, and
Papacostas (1995) 27-28;
on Gelvere, see Ramsay and Bell
(1909) fig. 347]. A 10th / 11th-century date was proposed by Soteriou
[Soteriou (1942) 443, where
the church is called ‘St
Tryphon’].

Later additions / alterations: The arches under the dome were reinforced in good ashlar, perhaps in the late
medieval period.

Modern repairs: In the late 1930s the bema vault was consolidated, the
missing parts of the apse, the east compartments, the south and east dome arches as well as the south
cross arm façade were reconstructed, and the surviving lower courses of
the north and west walls were raised. In the 1960s the structure was
consolidated once more, and the north and west walls were raised further
[RDAC 1937-39, 178; ARDA 1967, 11; AJA 72 (1968) 379; Papageorgiou (1969) 153-55].

Early literature: Pococke in 1738 speaks of a
‘very good church in the Greek
style, which belonged to a monastery near called Ainsphilosé’ and describes the site.
According to the archimandrite
Kyprianos, writing in the late 18th century,
the church was already in ruins at
that time. Duthoit in 1865 merely mentions the ruinous structure but also
notes that it was erected over a larger church. Hogarth also describes a ruined church perhaps belonging to a monastery, while Enlart
mentions an ‘elegant and beautiful ruined church’ [Cobham
(1908) 257; Kyprianos
(1788) 349; Bonato
(2001) 230; Hogarth
(1889) 90; Enlart/Hunt
(1987) 28, n.41; see also Jeffery (1918) 254 and Gunnis (1936) 413]. The mention of a monastery on the site was presumably prompted by
the late antique ruins surrounding the church; no monastic establishment is ever recorded on the
site.